Outline
Tohoku University, which is a leader in resilient society creation projects, and like-minded counterpart universities abroad, will implement international exchange and education for undergraduate students in Japan, the UK, and the US that foster a "mindset of global resilience" in undergraduate students, while also cultivating leaders who will realize the creation and international growth of "resilient global societies" based on cutting-edge graduate education and research. It will cultivate leaders who will act as bridges between Japan and other countries by allowing students to learn together on-location in places affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake —a prominent site (field) of resilient society implementation.
The programs implemented by this project will be multitiered, including both short exchange, and long-term degree-conferring exchanges. The project's main features are shown below.
- 1） On-site high school student recruitment
- 2） Formulation and implementation of international exchange/education programs that cultivate a mindset of global resilience and a Global Resilience Studies curriculum
- 3） Implementation of graduate overseas training/collaborative advising programs, based on diverse cutting-edge research, that contribute to the realization of resilient global societies
- 4） Creation of the Joint Graduate Program for Resilient Society (a graduate program conducted cooperatively with University College London)
University-wide organizations will perform quality assurance for the implementation of these programs. As Global Resilience Studies will be established as a new program in the Tohoku University Chōsō College, the knowledge obtained through past joint graduate programs will be utilized in this project to further increase its quality.
In addition to sharing our efforts as a model of education that contributes to the creation of resilient societies, we will expand the project beyond the UK/US in Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions, such as Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, etc.
Objectives for students
Students in the program will become global leaders who will contribute to solving environmental/social issues, such as climate change, and to the creation and international growth of future societies that are resilient to natural disasters and pandemics, in which people can lead fulfilling lives.
Specifically:
1） Students will become broadly conscious of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), understand green technologies, SDGs, and disaster prevention/mitigation from an international perspective, and have a mindset of global resilience.
In addition to the above, students in the graduate program will become:
2) highly specialized leaders (leaders who will contribute to resilient societies) through cutting-edge joint research/advising at eminent universities abroad, and have the ability to support resilient societies based on a wide and deep knowledge and understanding of international human rights, law, and democracy, specialist knowledge of resilience and mental wellness/foundation in disaster science and interdisciplinary knowledge/skills that enable rapid and flexible response to, and risk management for, hazards (risk factors) resulting from pandemics, natural disasters, anomalous weather, and conflicts/ability to contribute to the realization/feasibility of resilient society through the knowledge creation and social implementations related to green technology.
